According to this article, British schools have decided to stop teaching about the Holocaust for fear of offending Muslims.
It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.
Welcome to the fruits of the poisonous tree of Political Correctness. The original point of PCism, of course, was to cause people to be more sensitive and polite in their vernacular. Now we have discovered that the truth can be very offensive to certain groups of people and appealing to their sensitivities is far more important than accuracy.
There is also resistance to tackling the 11th century Crusades - where Christians fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem - because lessons often contradict what is taught in local mosques.
I'm surprised they discussed the Crusades at all, except to point out various atrocities by Christians, particularly the Fourth Crusade. Surely, teachers can't pass up an opportunity to bash Christians and Christianity, can they?
The study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, looked into 'emotive and controversial' history teaching in primary and secondary schools.
It found some teachers are dropping courses covering the Holocaust at the earliest opportunity over fears Muslim pupils might express anti-Semitic and anti-Israel reactions in class.
The researchers gave the example of a secondary school in an unnamed northern city, which dropped the Holocaust as a subject for GCSE coursework.
The report said teachers feared confronting 'anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils'.
It added: "In another department, the Holocaust was taught despite anti-Semitic sentiment among some pupils.
"But the same department deliberately avoided teaching the Crusades at Key Stage 3 (11- to 14-year-olds) because their balanced treatment of the topic would have challenged what was taught in some local mosques."
A third school found itself 'strongly challenged by some Christian parents for their treatment of the Arab-Israeli conflict-and the history of the state of Israel that did not accord with the teachings of their denomination'.
I realize it must be an old-fashioned notion, but I thought the purpose of school was to present information, encourage debate, and then allow students to make up their own minds. I'd be interested to see what the teachers were teaching about the Arab-Israeli debate, for instance, to see what was objectionable. Again, the teachers should encourage the children to discuss and defend their beliefs, complete with assignments and documentation.
But then, actually allowing such debate of touchy subjects might offend someone and we know that learning isn't as important as being tolerant (*sarcasm off*).
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